Selene looked around. At Maya, who was locked in an epic inflatable orca joust with a kid in a pirate ship. At the elderly woman doing gentle backstrokes, singing show tunes. At the chaos, the joy, the complete and utter weirdness.
He smiled. A real one. Then, he did something unexpected. He pushed off his blue ring, let it drift away, and grabbed the edge of her chipped watermelon. WettMelons
Selene’s face burned hotter than the bonfire. “That… yes. That was me.” Selene looked around
“You did it!” Maya yanked her into a hug. “You absolute maniac.” At the chaos, the joy, the complete and utter weirdness
There was a beat of silence, filled by the lapping of water and the distant crackle of a bonfire.
Taking a breath that felt like borrowing courage from a future, braver version of herself, Selene lowered into the water. The cold was a shock, a baptism. She pushed off the wall, elbows flailing like a wounded duck.